What is to be done ? November 13, 2024.
Opinion. Duane Campbell.
I have read, and continue to read the many positions expressed here. And, the many projections about why the Democrats lost this election- and more important – why the American people lost this election.
As a first step. Note. 72,414,936 people in the US voted for our positions. They voted for a continuation of democracy. That is an incredibly strong force to work within. In California 8, 030, 667 voted against the Trump campaign and 5,220, 663 voted in favor.
Certainly the left lost. And, some in the left contributed to the loss including the elected leadership of DSA. That issue requires some deep thinking.
We have seen these forces before. In 1968 Governor George Wallace of Alabama took a racist campaign to the people and won significant support in the north including in Michigan among working people.
It was said then, and I repeat now. When fascism comes to the U.S., it will not be in a Nazi uniform, they will be flying the U.S. flag , promoting “liberty” and claiming to protect the people. We have that now.
The election of Trump and his MAGA party can lead to a dictatorship. As Marc Cooper who lived through the Chilean Pinochet regime says,
“It can. It might. But it is far from inevitable. So far, he won an election and did not seize power. Lots of presidents win elections and then see themselves in a briar patch very soon after.”
“But Trump does not take office till January 20 and that means we have two months to start preparing a fierce opposition — more than a symbolic “resistance.”
We need to be about creating a resistance movement. These will be projects of education and organizing. Our initial tasks will include strengthening rules and norms at the state levels where we have democratic administrations. For example, in the 2016 election California sued the prior Trump administration 120 times. Winning many cases. It will be more difficult this time because the Administration has taken control of the Supreme Court, but legal resistance will be important.
We will need to educate and advocate for democratic norms. This weakness is already clear in several states including Florida, Tennessee and Texas.
And Trump, in Project 2025 proposes elimination of the federal Department of Education. Book banning, political firings, and convincing some in education to just go along to get along – each need resistance. The Trump / MAGA forces have already significantly diminished the effectiveness of teachers’ unions to resist these intrusions.
Timothy Snyder in Tyranny describes an important historical precedent.
Some American states, right now, are laboratories of authoritarian rule (and resistance). The American 1860s and American 1930s reveal tactics authoritarians use, as well as the weaknesses of the American system, such as slavery and its legacy. At those times, though, Americans were lucky in their leadership. Lincoln and Roosevelt were in office at the critical moments. And so we lack the experience of the collapse of the republic.
Snyder lists as a first step. Do not obey in advance.
First: Do not obey in advance.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy. Perhaps rulers did not initially know that citizens were willing to compromise this value or that principle. Perhaps a new regime did not at first have the direct means of influencing citizens one way or another. After the German elections of 1932, which brought Nazis into government, or the Czechoslovak elections of 1946, where communists were victorious, the next crucial step was anticipatory obedience. Because enough people in both cases voluntarily extended their services to the new leaders, Nazis and communists alike realized that they could move quickly toward a full regime change. The first heedless acts of conformity could not then be reversed.
A first refusal to obey in advance now is to not treat this election victory as if it is the final step of victory for the fascist forces. To treat this electoral victory as if it is final is to give into the fascist story. They want us to believe that they have won. We should obey.
They have won one election. Not the end of history.
Their view is far from complete. I encourage all to stop repeating their view as fact. ( read the remainder of Snyder’s 20 Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Each is important.)
They have won this election, but we have 67 million people on our side if we educate and organize. Not everyone is as depressed as many of us are.
Many treat this as just another election. That is great. The fascist have not won yet. We should not give them credence by acting as if they have won the battle for the future. The over stated cries of despair actually serve the agenda of the fascist by presenting the case as if we lost the final battle.
Instead, we should organize for the future.
I don’t diminish at all how dangerous and difficult this is. But, we are at the beginning of the struggle. Not the end. We need to pick each other up, support each other, and get back to work.
After reflection, I think a reference point should be more like we face is more like the governments of the U.S. South from 1865 until 1990 rather than Nazi Germany. – Unless we allow the MAGA agenda to consolidate its forces. We will face an authoritarianism that injures many. We will need to defend those most in need of support. I weep for the people of GAZA and the Ukraine.
Robert Reich says it well in his post The Resistance Starts Now. On our blog.
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/the-resistance-starts-now
AOC recommends self care. ( in case you did not get this e mail)
I’m not here to sugarcoat what we all are about to collectively experience.
But I think what we can do to prepare is build community. We do not have a choice.
Our choice is to build. Our choice to continue to fight. Our choice is to win. Our choice is to have each other.
We are about to enter a political period that will have consequences for the rest of our lives.
Our main project is to unite the working class in this country against a fascist agenda. Period.
Believe it or not, building community — whether it's your church, mosque, a knitting group, your dinner circle — is far more transformative than you realize.
If you don’t know your neighbor, it’s time to know your neighbor.
If you have a co-worker you think you’re cool with, it’s time to get to know that person.
It’s time to get to know the people we will be relying on to protect each other.
It may seem frivolous, but I guarantee you it’s not: creating community around you is one of the most powerful and radical things you can do in an environment like this.
Sometimes even just being in community with people who are not like-minded with you — is a very odd little thing that can help change their mind.
We have no choice but to live in the times that we live in, and to make it better one day at a time, one choice at a time.
Never, ever think that any choice or act of yours is too small. It isn't.
Regimes and autocracies are taken down by millions of drops of small actions that would otherwise be invisible by masses of people.
This is the assignment that we have ahead of us. I look forward to doing this work with you all.
In solidarity,
Alexandria
The situation is bad. It hurts. But, lets not give in. Don’t obey in advance.
They have won the first step. – one election. Remember, they lost in2020. The next steps are up to us.
For example, The Governors of California and Massachusetts are already preparing the defense in those states. We should focus some of our organizing on supporting the resistance efforts of state and local governance. ( This was part of the mutual defense planning for the 2020 election cycle.).
As in 2020, allies are stepping up. The Englers for example have an excellent piece up on Waging Nonviolence. For 2024.
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/a-new-wave-of-movements-against-trumpism-is-coming/
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/a-new-wave-of-movements-against-trumpism-is-coming/
WE need to focus on how to educate, organize, and grow the resistance.
I, for one, have no interest in giving up on U.S. democracy, even while noting its imperfections.
Duane Campbell
Sacramento, California.
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